Alien and Jonesy

I love the "Alien" franchise, so I've seen this movie prior to reviewing it for the course. I fell in love with the monster design, later named a Xenomorph, and whenever I'm asked who wins, Alien or Predator, it is always Alien. Alien is best.

Since I’ve seen, and used to own, “Alien,” when I went to rent it, I decided to watch the director’s cut since I have not seen it before. Either version is excellently filmed, and while I’m not a film major or expert, I can tell the angles and shots are just right for the tension of the scene. I think this really is one of the better horror movies out there. It has the suspense, the fear of the unknown, body horror, and only a couple jump scares. It uses limited vision to force the audience to look where they don’t want to, and the great suspense comes when expectations of seeing the alien aren’t met. It creates distrust in the camera and unpredictability, which is the best way to put the audience in the ship with the crew. Even better, the first death after Kane pops out his baby, is Brett, and we don’t see any evidence of where Brett went or if he is dead. As the story progresses the deaths are 1 up’d. Dallas looks to be killed in the vents but it goes unseen, then we get to see Ash get destroyed, marking the first brutality other than the baby alien exploding through Kane’s chest. After that it’s both Parker and Lambert getting parts popped and cut on screen. All the while, Jonesy has been the one closest to the alien the entire movie.

I think the thing that I love most about the Xenomorph is the design. It just feels like it would be a superior being with an exterior exoskeleton, motion activated baby making face huggers also armed with a plated exoskeleton, the ability to adapt DNA, acidic blood (which I’ve been informed is the reason why their teeth are so nice and bright), and a mouth in their mouth. What else could a monster ask for? How about a long bony scorpion tail and spikes! I really just love everything about them. But now I’m cheating and talking about other aspects of the franchise.

The way the alien is introduced is another element of the film I enjoy. We see what happens before any of it goes down with the giant and it’s exploded rib cage. I cant remember my reaction or what I thought the first time I saw this movie, but I would be curious to see if people who knew nothing about “Alien” and how they’re created/how they work, would be able to guess how it was all going to go down. I think that it is such a famous work, even those who’ve not seen the movie already know something about the face huggers, or have at least seen the costumes that come out every Halloween. I also like how it starts off as something innocent inside an egg and turned into a creature that drops its sex organs down your throat and suffocates you while doing so. So in the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, the viewer thinks the monster is the little hand with a tail. But surprise! It just made a little Disney Princess inside of Kane, and the rest of the movie ensues.